Indonesia, Cisco Partner to accelerate and realize a digital nation

Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, and Cisco, a worldwide technology leader, today announced an agreement to begin a Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program in Indonesia.

Cisco's CDA team partners with national and state governments worldwide to accelerate their national digitization agendas and deliver beneficial services to their citizens faster and more effectively. Indonesia is the first country in Southeast Asia to be a part of the program.

The program in Indonesia will focus on five key areas: Digital Government, Digital Industry, Digital State-Owned Enterprise, Cybersecurity, and Digital Inclusion.

The agreement was announced at meeting between Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, Cisco’s President for ASEAN, Naveen Menon, and Managing Director Cisco Indonesia, Marina Kacaribu. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi.

Naveen Menon, President for ASEAN, at Cisco said: “Over the years, technology has played a key role in boosting socio-economic growth in Indonesia making it one of the fastest growing economies. President Joko Widodo’s vision to see Indonesia become the largest digital economy in ASEAN by 2020 will see this growth accelerate further. The growth in digital economy will be driven in a large part by making public services more efficient, building local innovation capabilities and digitizing the country’s small and medium businesses. We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the government and contribute to the long term growth of the country”.

Marina Kacaribu, Managing Director of Cisco Indonesia said: “As Indonesia strives to realize its digital nation dream, two key areas will be crucial to its success. Firstly, we need to ensure that cyber security capabilities across the country keep pace with digital adoption so we stay a step ahead of malicious actors. We will be working with the government on coordination and execution of a national cyber security policy. Indonesia also needs a large pool of tech-savvy workforce. Cisco’s Networking Academy has trained more than 212,000 students in Indonesia, via in-kind contribution of tools, resources, and instructors. The 212,000 represents the second most students in ASEAN. We look forward to collaborating with the government to train the workforce of the future.”

Tom Lembong, Chairman of Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) said: “Indonesian economy is being transformed by digital economy, following the trend and the increasing number of middle class people, also supported by our young tech-savvy workforce. We estimate about two to three billion dollars per year is invested in e-commerce sectors. Government must provide reliable platform and formulate regulations to make sure that the digital economy complies with cyber security standards as well as contributes to society's greater good. We believe that this collaboration will support not only e-commerce and digital economy but also the Industrial Revolution 4.0 development in Indonesia.”